Tsubasa: Kaisouki no Takara
by DarktwoProductions
Summary: Takes place following the end of the manga of "Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles".  The story follows two points, one for a new group of heroes, and the other from the point of view of Syaoran's group.
1. Chapter 00: Foreword

**| Foreword |**

So, the story you guys are about to read is my first attempt at a FanFiction that involves Original Material of my own. What I mean is, I'm used to writing stories based on solely things from a game or anime, but this one contains original characters of my own as it goes between a mix of a original story and a canon story. I hope I write this well enough that you readers enjoy it! This story is actually dedicated to my girlfriend, Rachel K., Tsubasa is her favorite anime so I wanted to do it some additional justice following the end of the Manga.

_I hope you enjoy it most of all Rachel, I love you!  
_


	2. Chapter 01: My Name, Your Name

**| Chapter 01: My Name, Your Name |**

_What happened? This smell…it's so thick, thick with…_

The young man opened his eyes slowly; he had been laying face first into the dirt covered ground. His hands clenched into the ground deeply, grasping handfuls of black dirt in his hands as he began to push himself up onto his knees. He let out a couple of deep pants, his medium length black hair in his eyes to mask his vision. As he struggled to stand onto his own feet he managed to regain vision as the scene before him was completely horrific.

The land around him was torn apart and covered by destruction. The ground was filthy with blackened dirt, debris from buildings around the man, and…corpses. The man's eyes widened, his breathing coming to a still as innocent men and women laid littered around him, covered in each other's blood and the black dirt.

_So much, there's just so much…death..!_

The man took a few steps back, that's when his heel came into contact with something and he fell onto his back, letting out a loud yell as he hit the ground. He panted out of fear as he stared upon the sky; it was darkened as no sunlight seemed to come through, completely hidden by black clouds.

The man looked at his hands; they had been stained with dried blood. He came to wonder what exactly had unfolded here, but suddenly the memories flooded back in, as if having been concealed by the trauma of an injury.

"I remember…" He muttered faintly as he got back onto his feet, he tried to calm his heartbeat as he dragged his worn boots along the ground. He stared at the carnage around him, smelling a mixture of horrible smells. Things like ash, burning flames, rotting corpses, and the like.

"I was here with my Company…We were here on a request to investigate a town for a fugitive of the Kingdom." He mumbled to himself, "As soon as we entered the town though, there was a bright light and…and…"

A loud screech suddenly echoed throughout the air. The man perked up as his eyes widened anew, the first thing that came to mind was the fact that someone could have actually survived this carnage aside from himself!

He began to run towards the source of the scream, at the scene where the scream had seemed to originate the man came across what he actually believed was to be a survivor of the carnage. She was a beautiful young woman who had long chocolate covered hair; she wore strange red clothing and looked to be around the age of maybe eighteen in terms of physical age. She seemed to whimper in fear, backing up from what the man quickly saw to be a small pack of wolf like creatures. What caught his attention further was that the girl in her arms seemed to be holding a book like object; its design seemed to be peculiar from what he could see from where he stood.

Finally realizing the situation, he shook himself free of observing the scene and reached to his side. He whistled loudly, it echoing across the air as he successfully caught the attention of the wolves. He counted three of them, growing serious as he grasped onto and unsheathed his weapon of choice which was a western long sword.

_My body seems to be in fine enough shape to deal with a small group of beasts!_

The man yelled as he ran forward. A wolf lunged at him, but he quickly dodged and swung his sword in hand, slicing deep into the beast's side as fresh blood was spilled onto the ground. He let out a smirk as the wolf howled and collapsed onto its side, dropping dead. The other two wolves were still around and in unison they howled and charged for the man, the girl's eyes widened as she witnessed this, she opened her mouth to yell out however before she could the man had already acted.

The girl stared with wide eyed amazement as the remaining two wolves were quickly cut down in two fluid motions from the man who came to be her savior. The man simply walked past the sliced apart beasts as he shook his blade once, cleaning the blood off it before it dried. He closed his eyes as he then sheathed his sword slowly and as it went in all the way he opened his eyes to look at the girl before him and he gave her a warm smile.

"…Are you okay?"

"…" The girl was silent. She simply stared at him, backing up with a step as she hugged the book in her arms tighter.

"..?" He noticed her do this and he looked at her, "Hey…I don't mean any harm, I'm just askin' if your alright. Are you a local here?"

The girl stared at him, and seeing he was no threat she simply shook her head "no". She then looked at the book in her arms and her eyes narrowed slowly, "…Are you…after the Takara Nikki? Or is it my life..?"

"The Takara Nikki? You mean that fancy book in your arms?" The man asked her. He eyed it strangely, the girl nodded in response.

The boy stared at the book for quite some time before he perked up. Realizing he hadn't even introduced himself to her, he perked up a bit, frowning at his act of poor mannerisms.

"H-hey I almost forgot to introduce myself, my name is Kyosha Nobegane. My Comrades call me Kyo though." He gave her a toothy smirk.

"…Alice…"

Kyo perked, looking at her strangely, "What was that?"

"…My name…My name is Alice…Alice Takara."

"It's nice to meet you. Alice." Kyo smiled at her big, she then stared at him and noticed the optimism he seemed to show. She couldn't help but smile faintly, this was a first for her, to meet someone who hadn't wanted to kill her, whether it was just to remove here existence or take the book from her.

"It's nice to meet you too, Kyo-kun." She smiled at him; letting out a faint giggle as she loosened her hug upon the book she called the, "Takara Nikki".


	3. Chapter 02: The Light of Destruction

**| Chapter 02: The Light of Destruction |**

Following their meeting of pure chance, Kyo and Alice walked amongst the remains of the town they found each other in. Although it was probably late in the day, it was impossible to camp right now. Not when there was a threat of being attacked by either deranged survivors or any beasts in the area.

"There's still no sign of any survivors…aside from us that is." Kyo thought aloud as he and Alice kept on move.

"Perhaps everyone is simply dead…" Alice cryptically commented. Kyo glanced at her with a frown, as if not wanting to think of that possibility. "I would hope that's not the case…"

The pair continued to move onward, eventually Alice simply stopped walking and she stared at Kyo in a somewhat stoic manner. "What's wrong Alice?" Kyo suddenly asked, Alice's eyes narrowed.

"Why do you care for so many people you don't know of..?" Alice asked, Kyo seemed a bit taken back by this question. "Why not? It's only right to show kindness to all around you, even if they have wronged you before. It's the type of thing where you forgive and forget y'know?"

"…No…I wouldn't know…" Alice looked at her feet. Kyo looked at her and walked up to her some, he felt there was a lot he really didn't know about her, which was kind of obvious after all they had only met a few hours ago.

"Alice I—" Kyo opened his mouth to speak when suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. He looked over his shoulder and saw a kunai lodged deep into him, he gasped out in pain as he fell on a knee grasping his shoulder firmly. He closed his eyes tightly as he tore the Kunai off but blood trickled down his armor.

"Kyo..!" Alice's eyes widened as she looked up and saw a tall man in white armor standing before them. He had long white hair that blew in the soft breeze, and a very unique visor that had four red gems that acted as eye holes.

"I've found you…Witch."

Alice gasped out as she stepped back, hugging the book in her arms. She felt her heart race increase as a sharp pain in her head brought forth a rush of memories proceeding the incident that resulted in the current state of the town. "Y-you're the man who—"

Kyo looked up at Alice and then over his shoulder to the man who had harmed him moments ago. His expression was sharp as he glared forth towards the man, he staggered onto his feet, almost forgetting of the injuries he had awoken with before he met Alice, just what he needed, an additional injury.

"Who are you, and why the hell did you do that..!" Kyo demanded, he reached for his long sword and he unsheathed it. His sword made a scraping noise against his sheath as he pointed his blade at the white armored man.

"…I have no name to give to a man whom I am to erase from this world, along with that Witch hiding behind you." The man harshly responded with. He had his arms folded firmly across his chest as his expression remained the same as always, stoic.

Kyo's eye twitched, "What was that!"

"Now you wish me to repeat myself..? My my, are you quite the dumb one. It matters not though, dead men will tell no tales." He chuckled darkly as he vanished.

Kyo's eyes widened as he opened his mouth to yell, the white armored man appeared infront of him moving his leg and delivering a swift kick into Kyo's side. The spot he hit was the location of one of Kyo's injuries, this catching him off guard and throwing him to the side. Kyo yelled out in pain as his sword flew from his hands and stabbed into wooden rubble not far from where he had landed upon the blood stained ground.

Alice looked at where Kyo landed and her eyes widened in a great panic, "K-kyo! Are you—" She never finished as she was grasped by the throat and the man had lifted her off the ground firmly.

"When we last encountered each other in these lands, your power surge cost the lives of a great number of my men. You are nothing but a Witch whom brings destruction to where she travels, as you have to this town. This town alone is a good proof of your terrible existence..!" The man berated Alice as she struggled to hold in tears.

Between the berating she received and the concern she felt for her only friend and ally, Kyo, it was overwhelming her. Her book had fallen onto the ground when the man had pulled her up by the throat, and it was now dirtied by the ground. Kyo slowly staggered to get up from where he landed and he noticed the book on the ground, he then looked to where his sword landed and tore it out.

_Alice is in danger, and so is the Takara Nikki..!_

Kyo got up and he let out a yell, the man perked as he noticed Kyo and he released Alice. She landed on her hands and knees and gasped out for air. "Alice grab the book and get away! I'll take care of this guy..!"

"Such a fool, do you really fail to realize the destruction this woman creates? She is the Destroy Witch, and to each world she goes too the end up ruined..! Such as this one!"

"I don't know what the hell your talking about, but Alice is not the type of girl who seemed like she could be held responsible for this carnage! It's just not her person!" Kyo argued.

"Saying such things, even though you've only met her a few hours ago?" The man questioned, he smirked and unfolded his arms slowly.

"SHUT UP!" Kyo ran at him yelling, Alice looked up at this and her heart began to race again. She hugged her book to her tightly and began to back away from the scene, she wanted to put trust into her newfound ally yet her concern for him was becoming too great.

"I will end this in one swift move…" The man laughed and he vanished again. He appeared before Kyo and the two men quickly entered a lock, this white clad man revealing his weapon of choice to be a pair of twin katanas.

"So, are you willing to give me that name now?" Kyo smirked, he remained confident even though his body was battered with injuries new and old.

"If you insist I will tell it to you…I am Yoshimitsu; The Leader of the Manji Clan!"

"Yoshimitsu eh? Well sorry I've never heard of you. I on the other hand am Kyosha Nobegane; The Leader of the Seven Swords Mercenary Company!"

The man known as Yoshimitsu chuckled softly, amused by this. "I can't say I have heard of you either, Kyosha."

The two men yelled and they went skidding along the ground from each other. Kyo panted deeply as he grasped his blade with both hands, knees shaking weakly as his body was not handling all this struggling so well. Whilst Yoshimitsu seemed completely fine, save for a fw pants.

Alice watched this duel with wide eyes. She hugged her book tightly as she sat on her knees, she was practically in the middle of these two as they glared each other down.

_A-at this rate, Kyo will become seriously injured all because of me…Please, Takara Nikki you have to…you have to stop this!_

Alice closed her eyes tightly; tears ran down her cheeks as she buried her mouth into the head of the book. She whimpered slightly as her emotions began to peak, and as this occurred her book began to faintly illuminate with a bright white light.

Kyo and Yoshimitsu had been back in a sword lock when this was occurring, Kyo and Yoshimitsu knocking each other away yet again. That is when the two men noticed Alice. Yoshimitsu seemed to be familiar with this type of occurrence, whilst Kyo, amazed by the light could only connect this to one thing.

_This light, it's the same as the one that I saw before..!_

Yoshimitsu gritted his teeth as he assumed stance. He looked ready to charge Alice, displaying a sense of blood lust for Alice. "I will not let another disaster occur again! You, Destroy Witch, will not do any further harm to this world! Allow me to send you before the Gates of Hell to await proper judgment..!"

"No! Don't..!" Kyo yelled, He threw his sword aside and before Yoshimitsu could charge Alice, to cut her down, Kyo had acted and tackled Yoshimitsu with his entire body. Both men let out loud grunts as they landed onto the ground. Yoshimitsu glared towards Kyo with pure anger, but Kyo only responded by delivering a fierce hook to his face, knocking him back down.

"You son of a..!" Yoshimitsu cursed, he grabbed Kyo's incoming right hook with his hand, squeezing his fist tightly. "I will break your entire damned hand..!"

"Just try..!" Kyo barked.

"Please stop…just stop…Its not worth it, nothing is…not for me. Not for my life…" Alice mumbled repediatly as she hugged her book, she began to glow white and finally she gasped out.

The book in her arms fell onto the ground as it began to open slowly on its own. It flipped through a variety of pages until it stopped on a blank page which began to glow even brighter then the book itself. What did this all mean?

Before any of the three individuals could figure out what it could mean, there was a soft humming noise that grew gradually louder. Then suddenly, the white light became bright enough that all three were blinded and the entire area was swallowed up.

Earlier on, while Yoshimitsu had just appeared before Kyo and Alice, a group of individuals had reached a Cliffside overlooking the ruined town below. The group consisted of three individuals, all men, as well as a fourth who resembled that of a strange rabbit like creature.

"Woaaah! Look at that! Look at that!" The creature, on the head of one of the three men, pointed out as in the distance the town had begun to become slowly swallowed by the large white light.

"Now what could that be..?" One of the men, the one having the creature upon his head, smiled as his medium length blonde hair blew softly in the wind. He grasped onto the creature on his head and let him down onto the ground. The creature only hopped up and down, flailing its arms and legs in direction of the town.

"Whatever it is, it's getting larger…" A gruff voice commented, this came from another of the three men, a tall man garbed in black colored armors.

"…" The last of the three men, and the leader of this group, was silent as he stared upon the town. The man to his left was right; the strange explosion of white light was getting larger, although slowly, it was sure to be consuming them as well.

"Hey! Hey! Syaoran! Syaoran! What do we do..? Do we investigate..?" The white creature continued to hop up and down. It was speaking towards the leader of this trio of men, the one whom had displayed silence.

Syaoran only continued to stare at the white light. He opened his mouth to say something but then the black armored man stepped ahead of him some. "Standing around and staring is going to get us nowhere. If we're going to investigate that light, let's do it now!" The man barked towards Syaoran and his other comrades.

"Easy Kuro..~" The blonde haired man and last of the trio of men said teasefully, "You of all should know nothing is to be gained from acting recklessly." He wagged a finger to further antagonize his comrade.

"Bite me, Mage..!" He yelled, he looked away annoyed. Syaoran only closed his eyes, ignoring his two comrades, the Ninja Kurogane, and the Magician Fai D. Flowright. Whilst the white rabbit like creature, the dimension travelling creature, Mokona Modoki, only continued to hop up and down out of being interested greatly by the strange light.

Watching them from the shadows was a figure cloaked in the shadows of the forest behind the group. He emitted a faint chuckle as he watched them interact one another.

_To think these were the ones who brought forth the death of Fei Wang-Reed. I am not that impressed in all honest, however I can tell they will provide some interesting amusement…_

Since Kurogane and Fai were occupied with one another, and Syaoran was lost in his own thoughts, it was impossible for any of them or Mokona to detect the stranger watching them. The figure slowly opened their left hand and thus forth gathered a concentrated ball of wind. "This ought to give you all a push forward…"

Although he spoke faint, the attention of the men had been gained. All three turned behind themselves to glare at the direction of the hidden figure, even Mokona grew aware and glared alongside its companions.

"Who's there! Answer me!" Syaoran demanded, but the only thing he was responded with was yet another twisted chuckle.

"All things in good times, Tsubasa."

Syaoran was taken back by this comment, but before him or his companions could act they felt a strong wind. All three, and Mokona, let out yells as a fierce wind tore along the ground. It broke apart the cliff they stood on and forced them through the air, all of them screaming as they were knocked away from where they once stood.

The figure broke out into a hysteric laughter as he saw the group fall through the sky, but as they went out farther and farther they began trapped in the field of the still growing white light. All of their eyes widened In surprise and soon enough, because of the simple attack of the mysterious stranger, they too were sucked into the white light as Kyo, Alice, and Yoshimitsu had been earlier.

_And so it begins…_

**Note: **The man whom Syaoran and his group encounter prior to their sending into the white light; is a character who shall be brought to light and become quite important in coming chapters. As of now he shall remain a complete enigma to you readers, but I think he will come out to be a very "out-there" type of character.


	4. Chapter 03: Reunion of The Strongest

**| Chapter 03: Reunion of The Strongest |**

Following the incident that caused a white light to consume Kyo, Alice, and Yoshimitsu, it had been thought they would have joined the fate of the village before: however fate would have it that they survived unscathed. Kyo had been unconscious for awhile, between the powerful light, and the injuries he had suffered since he found Alice; he had been at rest on the ground. Alice, feeling a sense of guilt over what happened, held his head on her lap as she stroked his cheek softly. She figured the most she could do now was try to sooth her friend as best as she could. Once thing concerned her though; where had Yoshimitsu gone off too? He wasn't there when Alice herself awoke so where had he ended up?

_…S…Syao…Syaoran!_

Syaoran laid out on the ground, he and his comrades had been knocked unconscious when they were sent into the white light by the stranger whom had appeared mysteriously before them. Kurogane and Fai had since woken up, as well as Mokona, leaving the group's leader the only one unconscious. He began to stir into an awakening though, as Mokona tried calling out his name whilst hopping lightly on his chest.

"What…happened?" Syaoran asked as his eyes slowly opened, he sat up some and perked a bit when he noticed Mokona hopping on his chest. "Oh Mokona…" He blinked, he looked at Fai who had been smiling optimistically while Kurogane stood against a tree with his arms folded. "…Guys? Did I worry you?" Syaoran lightly laughed as he rubbed his head, he got onto his feet with help from Fai.

"Thank you Fai." Syaoran thanked, Fai only nodded, "It's nothing…Syaoran."

"See Kuro-Kuro, I told you Syaoran would be fine! And you were getting ALL worried for him!" Mokona giggled at Kurogane who glared at Mokona. "I was NOT concerned for the kid! I knew he would be fine..!"

"Aww, Kuro is getting flustered?" Fai teased, Syaoran only laughed at this. Kurogane on the other hand glared at both Mokona and Fai with a twitching eye, ready to lash out in a rage at them.

There was a rustling in a bush nearby, which immediately caught the attention of the group. Mokona hopped into Fai's arms, scared if it was the stranger from before again. Whilst Syaoran and Kurogane moved to draw their swords, yet what came from the bush was simply a strange canine like creature. It stared at the group blankly, making a cute little whimper.

"Eh?" Syaoran and Kurogane stared at it dumbfounded, whilst Fai laughed some. "It appears Kuro's yelling attracted the attention of a local."

"Don't even joke like that you annoying—" Kurogane gritted his teeth, while he was chewing out Fai, Syaoran knelt down to the creature and pet it.

_I wonder if there was a white light here when we appeared..?_

__Back with Alice and Kyo; Alice's friend had begun to awaken, Kyo let out a groan as he eyes slowly opened, his body feeling extremely stiff from having been out for awhile. When his eyes fully opened he found his head in the lap of Alice, his companion looking down on him with a smile.

"Did you…enjoy your nap?" Alice giggled faintly; Kyo's face became a light shade of red as he sat up and scooted away from her quickly. "M-miss Alice..!" He exclaimed flustered but remembering the situation he grew a bit more serious, "…Are you alright? Where are we? Where's that Ninja that tried to hurt you?" Kyo asked. Alice's eyes lowered and she sighed as she stared at the ground.

"…The Takara Nikki transported us to another world in the midst of the battle between you and that man." She explained, "I'm fine, but I don't know where that man is, I would expect he is in this world as well but where is unknown to me."

"Wait did you say…we were transported to another world!" Kyo's eyes widened, Alice closed her own eyes and nodded slowly.

"Yes…It is wrong of me to hide this from you, so I think it is time I tell you." Alice opened her eyes and stared at him. "The book I carry is no ordinary book…It is a Grimmoire left behind to me by my Guardian following his passing. It is called the Takara Nikki, the Treasure Diary, and was created by my Guardian, the Magus Takara." Alice began.

"I come from another world different from the one you met me in Kyo." She looked at the ground, "In my world…I was a girl without a family, past, or any memories. I was taken in by a Magus by the name of Takara, and he raised me as if I were his own flesh and blood."

Kyo stared at her as he listened to her story, he frowned, sad to hear of Alice's own past. "Unfortunately…My Guardian passed away suddenly, and he left behind the Takara Nikki for me. Before he had told me this book's purpose for existing was to '_record the greatest memory from every world' _as such I believe it is now my mission to go to each world and record their memory until this book is complete." Alice finished.

"So that's the story eh? I get it now; I always felt that book you carried was special in some way or form. I never realized it was a Grimmoire with the ability to pass through worlds." Kyo's eyes lowered as he pieced this altogether.

Alice nodded, "Although I've taken it upon myself to travel and record the memory of every world as my Guardian did before me, every time I go into a new world, I am chased and hunted by at least one individual. They call me a Witch or a Monster and desire my death, believing this book I carry is a Harbinger of Destruction, a tool in which the end is brought forth. I don't understand though, I never want to hurt anyone but it seems through every world I go through destruction follows me…" Alice's eyes began to water as she put her hands on her laps. She closed her eyes as tears began to fall on her clothes.

"Alice…" Kyo saw her begin to cry and he got up. He walked over to her and got on a knee before her, with one of the fingers of his gloved hands he whipped the tears from her eyes. Alice perked and looked at him; she blushed faintly as she stared at him. She smiled faintly as Kyo returned the smile.

"You're the first friend I've ever had Kyo. You aren't like anyone else, you don't want to hurt me and since we've met you've protected me twice already." Alice smiled, "Thank you, this means a lot to me."

"Don't worry about it Alice." Kyo smiled as he stood, extending a hand to her. Alice giggled as she picked up the Takara Nikki and took his hand. Kyo pulled Alice onto her feet and she nodded. "I'm going to help you in your journey. I'll go through the worlds with you and help you record the memories of the worlds into that book of yours." Kyo suddenly said. Alice blushed some at this, "W-what?" she was taken back a bit. Kyo looked at the sky and chuckled some. "You said yourself it's your duty now to do this, but you also said you're always being hunted wrongly. So I'm going to be both your sword and shield." Alice just stared at Kyo, the blush returning to her cheeks as she stared at him.

_Thank you…Kyo…_

__Meanwhile, Syaoran's group had figured the only way to figure out where they were now was to keep on the move and maybe find a denizen of this area. Syaoran seemed troubled as he lead the group forward, things not piecing together right in his head. He was mostly disturbed concerning who that stranger was whom threw them into this situation, and what the source of the white light could have been.

"I think it is safe to say that we were transported into another world…" Fai suddenly commented.

"You think?" Kurogane exclaimed, treating this as if it were an obvious situation.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we were transported into another world when we were thrown into that white light. This only makes me more curious…I had figured the only way for us to cross worlds was through Mokona, but now…" Syaoran had begun to close his eyes, but they snapped open as he took a sudden step back. A kunai flew by his face, nicking him in the cheek slightly. Syaoran flinched to the slight sting of pain as he placed a hand on where he had been hurt.

"! Syaoran!" Kurogane, Fai, and Mokona had all exclaimed. Syaoran stepped back again as his eyes narrowed.

"I'm fine, what was that..?" Syaoran looked to his right and saw the blood tipped Kunai stabbed into a tree to his right. _A kunai..? This is a ninja's tool isn't it..?_

Kurogane noticed the kunai as well and he suddenly grew more alert then his comrades. "You guys go on ahead." He suddenly asked of them.

"Huh? Is something the matter Kuro..?" Fai and Mokona looked at Kurogane who seemed more serious then he normally was.

"I need you guys to go on ahead. Someone is watching us, I'll take care of them and catch up." Kurogane asked of them, "Just trust me on this alright!" He yelled. His comrades stared at him as if he was a tad crazy, but Syaoran felt an understanding in this and he looked at Fai and Mokona. "Guys." Was all he said and Fai and Mokona cooperated, as the three went on ahead of Kurogane.

Kurogane was relieved to see them go on ahead; he then slapped his black cape open as he unsheathed the Silver Dragon, his signature Katana of use. "I know your there, c'mon out." Kurogane called out. A white blur moved about the trees until it jumped down before him. It was a man he remembered from his past in his own world.

"YOU'RE!" Kurogane's eyes widened as he felt an anger begin to ignite within him, the man turned around to face him, chuckling softly. He had his arms folded, but as he faced Kurogane they slowly became unfolded.

"It has been a long time, Yōō." Yoshimitsu chuckled again, as he noticed Kurogane grow even more angered by being referred to by his real name.

"Don't even call me that! You have NO RIGHT to call me by that name! Only—" Kurogane was interrupted by Yoshimitsu, "Only Princess Tomoyo at this point has any right to do so, is that right? My how the mighty have fallen!" Yoshimitsu laughed.

"What makes you say that..!" Kurogane pointed his blade at Yoshimitsu. "You were the so called "strongest" in our world, and now you have keeled yourself over at the feet of the Princess. Is this what they call love?" Yoshimitsu was playing a sort of mind game with him, wanting to further anger his old rival.

"L-love! Quit spouting out random nonsense!" Kurogane yelled, his cheeks became slightly red but it was hard to tell if it was from all the anger or the comment Yoshimitsu made.

"What's the leader of the Manji Clan even doing here; last I checked you didn't have any ability to cross worlds…" Kurogane became calmer suddenly as he realized just what was going on. Yoshimitsu chuckled, amused by Kurogane's sudden observation, "You finally noticed hm?"

"I gained the ability to travel the worlds after a man came before myself and my Clan." Yoshimitsu began to explain, "He told me that if I wanted to protect our world I had to seek out the witch carrying the Takara Nikki and destroy both the Grimmoire and its holder."

"That's some strange story. Why would you even go out of your way to protect our world anyways! Last I recall, you and the Manji Clan did nothing but steal from the Royal Family and attack me on numerous occasions!" Kurogane barked.

"Hush your bark you annoying pup." Yoshimitsu retorted, "My acts of thievery against the Princess were to help those who were poor. If a Royal Family has so much power in their land then they should take proper care of their own people. As for you, you were always close to the Princess as her "greatest warrior", I figured you were simply the only person who could defeat me, if even." Yoshimitsu laughed amused.

"Don't talk as if you think Princess Tomoyo can't take care of her own land! As if a criminal would know the land's ruler by simple opinion alone..!" Kurogane gritted his teeth, "Although I'm glad you acknowledge me as such your equal I think you forget that there is no such a thing as an '_equal_' to a land's strongest!" Kurogane yelled as he entered a stance.

"Your right, there is no such thing as an equal to the strongest. That's why I will make sure this duel, I put an end to your life." Yoshimitsu grew serious as he unsheathed his twin blades, "I will rid of you, then hunt down the Witch, so then I may return to my land and rebuild the Manji Clan!"

"Just shut up already, YOSHIMITSU!" Kurogane yelled as he slashed the air, after this both men ran at eachother. They entered a fierce duel as their swords clashed the scraping of steel howling in the air as sparks flew from their blades. Kurogane ferociously attacked Yoshimitsu, not the least bit nervous that Yoshimitsu was a master of dual-wielding swords.

These two had fought each other in the past on numerous occasions. As Kurogane was still on his rampage of becoming the strongest back before he started his journey, he had fought with Yoshimitsu on a few occasions. Yoshimitsu's clan of Ninjas, the Manji Clan, had caused Kurogane much trouble in the past. It would be noted that Yoshimitsu was one of Kurogane's last opponents before he was cast onto his journey by the Princess and is one of the only men whom survived fighting Kurogane.

"You've improved. I can say that for sure." Kurogane panted, he had been knocked along the ground after Yoshimitsu pushed him back. The white Ninja only chuckled, "I can say the same for you. Perhaps you're not the same pup I once knew, maybe, just maybe, you can be considered a grown dog now." Yoshimitsu taunted.

"WHAT WAS THAT!"

"You heard me."

Kurogane let out a yell as he jumped into the air, grasping the Silver Dragon with both hands he brought it downward. Yoshimitsu smirked as he crossed his twin blades like an X. The swords all scraped against one another as the scraping became hideously loud, both men yelled as they increased the strength in their swords however as they were equals in this position neither of them had the upper hand.

"You bastard..!" They yelled at each other, finally the swordlock broke apart and both men were thrown backwards away from each other. Kurogane was knocked through the air into a tree, it cracking from the force of his body slamming against it. Kurogane's head began to go limp as he panted heavily, his body ached from this injury and he stabbed his sword into the ground so he could lean against it. Yoshimitsu on the other hand had been knocked sliding along the dirt ground, his heels digging into it and burning some as his body rocked against a tree itself. The white Ninja gasped out in pain as he fell onto a knee.

Kurogane perked, he suddenly noticed Yoshimitsu seemed to be aching from injuries obviously not inflicted by Kurogane himself. _What the..? Seems like Yoshimitsu's been in a few battles before now I wonder if he was involved in the incident at that village._

Yoshimitsu glared at Kurogane from behind his visor. He staggered onto his feet and spun his blades in his hands until he slammed them into their respective sheaths. "It appears we are still far too equal to overcome the other." Yoshimitsu remarked, "I still have a mission anyways, so killing you should be the least of my concern." He chuckled weakly as some old injuries, like the ones he received fighting Kyo, had reopened. "We'll settle this score of ours…in the near future."

"Yoshimitsu, you're not getting away..!" Kurogane tried to get onto his feet to stop him, but Yoshimitsu had already jumped into the tree tops and got away. Kurogane cursed out, out of both anger and pain as he collapsed onto his face. His vision blurred faintly as his consciousness began to drift away.

_Tsk, I'll get you back, Yoshimitsu…_

**Note:**Don't worry guys; Kuro-Kuro will be just fine. I can't say he'll meet back up with Syaoran and Fai at the quickest pace, but then again we have some other scattering going about with the cast at the moment. I hope you enjoyed, the next chapter will be well on its way soon..!


	5. Chapter 04: Swords Clash

**| Chapter 04: Swords Clash |**

Following Kurogane's order to go on ahead; Syaoran, Fai, and Mokona had went ahead deeper into the seemingly endless black forest without their strong companion. Although Syaoran had expressed doubt in leaving their friend behind, Fai and Mokona seemed very rest assured that he would be fine.

"Don't worry so much Syaoran, you forget this is Kurogane that we're talking about." Fai smiled at Syaoran. Syaoran looked back at the magician, giving him a frown that turned into a faint smile.

"I know, but I can't help but shake this feeling in my gut. A grim feeling, like something bad is going to happen…" Syaoran clenched at his stomach with a hand. Suddenly Mokona hopped onto his shoulder and placed a hand on Syaoran's head. Mokona let out a small giggle.

"Don't worry so much Syaoran!" Mokona smiled, Syaoran looked at Mokona and let out a small laugh. "I know…" He smiled again and looked up, he wanted to see the sky of this world but the thick black treetops of this forest seemed to conceal its grace from Syaoran's vision. He let out a faint sigh.

Elsewhere; Alice and Kyo had continued walking amongst the black forest. Earlier they had heard the faint sound of combat, probably from the duel that went on between Kurogane and Yoshimitsu. Fearing getting involved, the pair had avoided the direction earlier and thus went another way. This in turn just seemed to get them lost even further, and soon both individuals halted and let out a groan each.

"A-at this rate we'll never get out of here alive..!" Alice whimpered, her eyes got big and watery as she stared at Kyo.

"H-hey! D-don't give me that sad look, you're going to make me feel bad..!" Kyo blushed faintly at Alice's cuteness as he pointed at her. Alice simply sniffled and whipped her eyes with the sleeve of her left arm.

"I'm sorry…" Alice quietly muttered, Kyo smiled and he placed a hand on her head. "Its okay, Alice. We'll get out of this place I can assure that."

The two exchanged smiles to each other, that's when Kyo heard the faint noise of something slicing through wood. He turned and pulled his sword out quickly, holding it up he barely deflected an incoming kunai, knocking it into the tree nearest to Kyo. He grew pale, while Alice let out a small gasp, almost as if on instinct she stepped behind Kyo and clung to him.

"I thought I smelled the stench of a Witch." Yoshimitsu's voice was heard as he came from the shadows and began to walk towards the pair. Kyo's eyes narrowed sharply as he took a stance while holding his sword up with both hands.

"You again..! Don't you ever give up?" Kyo yelled out, Alice remained silent. Her eyes watered the slightest at being called a "Witch" yet again by Yoshimitsu.

"He who is not persistent cannot hope to get anywhere." Yoshimitsu cryptically spoke as he reached for his twin blades, "I believe we ourselves had a score to settle…"

"Shit..!" Kyo bit his lip. _My wounds are still fresh; if I fight Yoshimitsu I'm bound to lose..!_

Alice had her hands grasping Kyo by his shoulders; she was too scared to move. Kyo knew this predicament was bad, if he battled Yoshimitsu he was bound to lose to him for sure. Not to mention; Alice was too fear struck to move away, thus she was just as endangered as he was by the recently returned Ninja.

_What do I do? I don't think I can escape this time..!_

"It's over." Yoshimitsu spoke as he dashed forward; Alice closed her eyes and screamed loudly out of fear.

The scream echoed throughout the forest, and with its source not being far from the field in which Kurogane and Yoshimitsu had clashed earlier; the barely conscious Ninja had begun to stir to life once again. He slowly got onto his hands and knees before letting out an annoyed growl, then climbing onto his feet he panted out of a building rage.

"Yoshi…mitsu..!" He let out as his eyes widened, he picked up his sword and slashed the air three times. He then ran forward, following the dying sound of the scream to where it came from.

At the same time, something had begun to stir into awakening in the shadows of the forest. A small red mono-eye turned on and shined a bright ruby red as Kurogane unknowingly ran past it. It whirred and clicked and began to silently trail the black armored Ninja in the shadows.

Yoshimitsu who believed Alice's scream had attracted nothing, let out a faint dark chuckle as he moved close to the pair. "It's over, admit your end and simply…Die!"

"NO!" Kyo yelled, he pushed Alice back to get her away from him. He let out a yell as he swung his blade, Yoshimitsu moved swiftly and blocked Kyo's blade with one of his swords. The white Ninja let out a laugh as he moved his other sword and went to slash Kyo. Kyo closed his eyes tightly; although he maintained his sword lock with Yoshimitsu he expected the burning sting of pain. Strangely, the feeling never came. When Kyo slowly opened his eyes, he saw that Yoshimitsu's left wrist had been grabbed tightly. Both Kyo and Alice gasped out, while Yoshimitsu's eyes widened beneath his armored visor.

"What..?"

"Did you think I would simply go down for the count so easily? It's not very much like you to underestimate someone, Yoshi." Kurogane's voice was heard and he grinned faintly as he began to squeeze Yoshimitsu's wrist, as if trying to break it.

"You bastard..! Kurogane..!" Yoshimitsu growled out, he kicked Kyo backwards and with his now free right arm he went to stab Kurogane with one of his blades. Kurogane saw this coming and yelled as he threw Yoshimitsu into a tree to his left.

The white clad Ninja let out a yell of pain as the tree broke in two from the strength in which Kurogane had hurled him. Yoshimitsu gritted his teeth as he slid down the stump that remained of the tree. He got up onto his feet and grasped his swords firmly, his arms were shaking though, and it was evident that Yoshimitsu was beginning to become just as angry as Kurogane was now.

"I told you that we would settle this score of ours following the death of the Diary holding Witch..! Yet you—"

"Shut up." Kurogane pointed his katana at Yoshimitsu. "I heard you the first time, don't start going all broken-record on me now." He smirked faintly, "So just shut the hell up and fight..!"

"This time I won't simply leave you to lie down on the ground; I will cut you to ribbons!" Yoshimitsu threatened, he took a stance. Kyo and Alice both watched this, Alice clinging onto Kyo again for protection. Kyo blushed faintly but swallowed hard, as he stared at Kurogane and Yoshimitsu who were about to get into another duel.

_Who is this guy? He tossed Yoshimitsu aside like he was a rag doll. I can see this guy has a lot of strength in him; not to mention he's pretty cool..!_

Kyo admired Kurogane's strength from afar; whilst the two Ninjas ran at each other. Kurogane and Yoshimitsu both slashed at each other with amazing speed, the two increasing the pace of their movements to try and surpass the other. However as the two had been of equal skill, their blades met and locked many times, with each lock a small burst of sparks that went into the air.

Kurogane grasped his katana, the "Ginryu" also known as the "Silver Dragon", with both hands in order to increase his hold of it, while Yoshimitsu almost blindly seemed to be swinging his twin Ninjato, "Houken" and "Ranken". The two warriors let out cries of battle as there was a fierce burst of wind. They stood across from each other, Kurogane swinging downwards but Yoshimitsu's blades crossed in an "X" shape had stopped him.

Kurogane struggled a smirk; He and Yoshimitsu tried to keep their respective footing, but the power in their swords was about to reach the point they would be launched apart. "You're actually serious this time?" Kurogane taunted, "Shut up..!" Yoshimitsu responded. "Make me..!"

Kurogane let out another yelled as he squeezed the handle of his katana tightly, his eyes widened as he finally broke through Yoshimitsu's defense. Yoshimitsu's eyes widened under his visor and he stilled his breath as his swords were knocked into the grass and he was sliced down the middle.

There was silence in the field; the only sound to be heard was Kurogane's panting and the faint breeze of the wind. Kyo and Alice who had witnessed this seemed to be still of breathing as well. Kurogane closed his eyes slowly as he stood up straight; opening his eyes again he looked at Yoshimitsu who slowly backed up.

Yoshimitsu's visor slowly split into two pieces as it fell onto the ground; he staggered until he finally fell onto a knee. Blood began to drip onto the darkened grass as he had a hand tightly grasping onto the front of his face. If you looked closely; you could see the blood trying to drip in between his fingers.

"You hesitated…You could've easily killed me just then? Why hold back?" Yoshimitsu struggled to say. Kurogane was silent at first; he rested his katana against his shoulder as he turned around.

"I wasn't satisfied." He responded with, "You won Round one, and I won Round two. However this isn't how I want to settle things with you." He chuckled, "One of us is going to die at our final duel, but…" He looked over his shoulder at Yoshimitsu. "When that day comes, for our final duel, I want to make sure both of us are at our full strength!"

Kyo's eyes slowly widened. _Are you telling me these guys weren't even giving it their all?_

Yoshimitsu let out a faint laugh as he glared at Kurogane. His eyes were golden and looked like the eyes of a dragon. He grinned slowly, as his hand went down to his side. He had a long diagonal cut going from the left part of his forehead, across his nose, and down to the middle of his cheek.

"You know you'll regret not just killing me here…"

"I don't care." Kurogane responded with. Yoshimitsu glared at Kyo and Alice whom he knew to have watched the entire fight.

"…I'll be sure to settle my score with you too one day, Kyosha Nobegane…" Yoshimitsu backed up towards the shadows of the trees. He grinned at everyone one last time before disappearing.

_I may not have my chance to kill that Witch in this world, but there's always the next world, and the world after that and after that..!_

When Yoshimitsu was sure to be gone, both Kyo and Alice had let out a deep sigh of relief. Kyo then smiled big and went up to Kurogane, sheathing his sword as to not risk giving him the wrong impression. "Hey, thanks for coming to our rescue. If you hadn't come then me and my friend would've been—"

"Don't thank me. I didn't attack him because he was going after you and your girlfriend over there." Kurogane coldly remarked, "I just wanted to kick his ass for what he did to me earlier."

Kyo was taken back a bit, he stuttered a moment and let out a nervous laugh. "Even so, I still want to give you my thanks..!"

Kurogane was silent, although it was true he did appear to get his revenge on Yoshimitsu, he also did act to protect those two, like expected, people who act so tough like Kurogane, always have a soft side to them. "Whatever…" Kurogane closed his eyes annoyed, "…Just get going before I have to come save your ass a second time."

With that, and no need of a reminder, Kyo nodded and ran towards Alice. He smiled as he took her by the hand, Alice's cheeks flushing a faint pink as she was pulled along by Kyo, the pair going in the other direction as to hope to find an exit to this endless black forest. Kurogane simply plopped onto his ass and crossed his legs, closing his eyes as he rested his katana against himself.

_That kid, he kind of reminded me of Syaoran…_

Syaoran perked up, he turned in the direction the duel between Yoshimitsu and Kurogane had gone on. Getting a strange feeling he suddenly rushed off, startling Fai and Mokona a bit. The two followed after Syaoran as he ran past the black trees, having a determined look on his face. When the light of a coming clearing could be seen, Syaoran smiled as he stopped his run. He stared ahead, with Fai and Mokona quickly catching up, the trio catching sight Kurogane infront of them who was sitting so calmly.

"Yo." Kurogane opened his eyes to see them and he smirked some.

"See I told you, Kuro-Kuro would be just fine..!" Mokona giggled. Fai nodded, "As expected from our Kuro."

Kurogane's eye twitched as he heard this and he immediately jumped up, pointing his katana at Mokona who immediately hopped into Fai's arms. "So scary..!" Mokona teased, Kurogane yelled out.

"One of these days I'm so going too..!"

Syaoran couldn't help but laugh between his friends. He was happy to know that Kurogane was alright. Even though they had reunited with their friend, he couldn't help but shake that strange feeling in his gut. That grim feeling, which made him feel as if something bad, was yet to happen.

In the shadows a figure watched them quietly, they grinned slowly as they observed the group in the clearing. _I see they've yet to fallen prey to this black everglade…in the end this changes nothing though; like the holder of the Takara Nikki they will all perish._

The figure vanished from the shadows before any of the group of four could detect their presence. Following their disappearance from the area, Syaoran felt his gut ease up. He perked up a bit at this, as he looked around.

_What was that all about..?_

"Syaoran." Kurogane called out to Syaoran who perked up, "Hm? What is it?" He looked at the Ninja. "We 'ought to get going, I can tell this is no place to simply stand around as the day goes by." Kurogane warned, Fai nodded in agreement to this.

"Right, then let's go." With that, the group of four continued their trek through the forest. Hoping to find the exit soon, before another danger found their way to them.

Meanwhile, Kyo and Alice had finally found their way to the edge of this forest. A sense of relief washing over the two of them as they now stood at what seemed to be a hillside. Both of their eyes widened a bit as they got a bit of a picture of what this world was supposed to be.

The sky was a darkish grey color, almost the color of spoke, while the grass on the hillside was the same to that in the forest. It was a darkened color, giving the grass an appearance of black grass. The trees now before them were more absent of life then the ones in the forest, appearing wilted and drained. In the faint distance, some of city that centered this world could be seen. The buildings were of strange design and tall, resembling something from a Victorian tale. They emitted many lights as a small trail of smoke was far ahead; this along with the faint sound of a roaring engine gave the assumption that this town also had a train travelling through it. Just what kind of world is this?

"This world it seems so…" Kyo began to say, coming to a loss of words.

"Gloomy." Alice finished. She looked at Kyo, "Is that what you were going to say..?"

Kyo nodded. "Yea…" His expression softened as he stared at the city before them, wondering a series of thoughts to himself. Things like, "what kind of people inhabit this world?" or "is there even any sort of population here?".

"Well standing here will get us nowhere. We should head into the town and look around closely." Alice smiled some; Kyo looked at her a bit surprised. He would've expected Alice to be somewhat more timid in this kind of situation. He simply let out a small laugh and nodded.

"Right, let's go...!"

Elsewhere, far apart from where both groups were heading towards the city from. Deep within a laboratory that was illuminated solely on the light coming from a series of lined up computer monitors. A pair of figures watched up some monitors, depicting Syaoran's group heading towards the city from a path separate to the one that Kyo and Alice walked along. On another monitor depicted Yoshimitsu who was running towards the city as well, but from a third path.

"It appears we have attracted quite the handful of other worlders…" One of the figures spoke up, they had long pale green hair, braided into a long braid that rested on their left shoulder. Whilst on the forehead was a pair of high-tech goggles that had small robotic arms on the side connecting to a brace on the back of the man's neck, this enabling him to equip the goggles without the movement of either of his arms.

"It appears so." The other figure smiled optimistically, "How exciting! A chance to put to good use our most recent experiment! Don't you think? Guildenstern?" The other man; a young man who had medium length pitch black hair with white bangs glanced at his colleague.

This man wore a nice Victorian outfit of mainly white and with some black, as well as a dark colored coat that was buttoned only halfway over his main outfit. He wore black gloves, and steel-toed black boots. While his colleague, Guildenstern, wore a white lab coat with stitches all over it and faint blood stains. He had a black colored outfit underneath the lab coat on, only faintly similar in design to his friend's. He wore simple black dress shoes and a pair of white gloves.

"Perhaps so, I would not get so giddy though, Rosencrantz. There's a good chance these newcomers may just destroy what we've spent a good time working on." Guildenstern looked over at Rosencrantz. Giving him a stern look as his goggles went up, revealing red eyes that glared at Rosencrantz.

"I know I know, but that just makes it even better!" Rosencrantz smiled, he laughed some as he took a gloved finger and pushed up the small circular shades he wore over his eyes.

"So shall we activate it..?"

"It's already been activated." Guildenstern folded his arms annoyed, "When that black armored Ninja went on by in such a rage, it subconsciously triggered "It" to awaken, even without our command."

"Magnificent! Then for it to activate without us, it must've triggered great strength!" Rosencrantz seemed certainly pleased by this turn of events. Guildenstern merely looked to the side annoyed, "Yeah, magnificent." He said sarcastically as he scratched the side of his head as his goggles went back over his eyes. He glanced at the monitor depicting Kyo and Alice, and he grinned faintly noticing the book that Alice carried in her arms.

Rosencrantz, as he was called, simply eyed the monitor depicting Syaoran's group. Interested how Kurogane was able to activate his and Guildenstern's creation by simply being in its presence. _It's just as he told us, about the world crossing travelers with great power. How amazing!_

The two demon scientists simply grinned, each to their own thoughts and interests, as soon they would come to interact with those that had picked at their curiosity. However one question still stands: How was it that they would come to expect the arrival of all these other worlders? Was it that they were informed?

In the shadows of the lab, a third figure watched. Pleased at this turn of event, as the pieces had begun to move and soon everything would come together.

_Yes, the greatest game is about to begin..!_


	6. Chapter 05: Town of Secrets

**| Chapter 05: Town of Secrets |**

Kyo and Alice had drawn close to the town that they discovered upon making it out of the black forest. They both were curious, having no clear idea of what kind of world this was, as well as how to get out of it, they felt a sense of insecurity as they continued to walk. Alice moved closer to Kyo, feeling safe when at his side, she made a small smile as she looked up at her friend. Kyo only looked ahead as he remained in thought as the pair walked.

_What kind of world is this supposed to be..? How am I supposed to even escape it with Alice..?_

The two had reached the streets of the town at this point, getting glances from locals as the clothes that Kyo and Alice wore was different then the style of clothing worn by the residents of this world. Kyo seemed slightly annoyed; he didn't want to have to stand out, as there was the threat of being attacked by someone who had the same ill-hearted hate towards Alice as their previous threat, Yoshimitsu.

"Kyo..?" Alice looked up at Kyo, blinking.

"I'm sorry; I just don't want to risk getting pulled into another fight so soon." Kyo looked down at Alice, "I don't want you to get attacked again, I feel like if I get pulled into a fight I won't be able to protect you…"

Alice stared at Kyo, she faintly smiled. "Don't worry so much. You're trying as much as you can, and that's what matters." Alice giggled as she hugged his arm. Kyo blushed a bit as she did this and nodded. "Yeah, you're right…"

"You two aren't from around here are you..?" A voice suddenly called out to the two; they turned around to see a strange man standing there smiling at them.

He was tall in height, having a lanky build. He wore a full white suit with a silver pocket watch along his waist. The man had a pale almost ghostly complexion as his hair was nice and short, being a silver blonde color. His eyes were a golden color, and he wore a pair of glasses over his eyes.

"Who are you..?" Kyo gritted his teeth, growing uneasy. The man let out a light-hearted chuckle, "I'm sorry if I alarmed you in some way. I only had my attention caught by you and your lover." He mused, "I was curious to see if you were from around here or not."

"…I still don't follow." Kyo and Alice both expressed confusion.

"Well you see in this town; we actually have gotten a small handful of enigmatic travelers such as yourselves." He chuckled, then he perked, "Oh that's right, how rude of myself to not introduce myself to you." The man laughed some, "My name is William. I am a Writer."

"A writer..?" Kyo stared at him; William just smiled again at the two as they faced one another.

Elsewhere; Syaoran's group had taken a different path in order to approach the town. Syaoran seemed to be disturbed as to where they had ended up, and although his comrades would've showed the same concern they were too busy snapping at one another. Syaoran expressed a mix of dismay as well as a faint nervous laugh, as he watched Fai and Kurogane doing their usual bickering.

_Things are not just piecing together like they should, what could I be missing?_

Syaoran closed his eyes as he walked at the head of the group. He folded his arms while in thought; he came to a halt though. He felt a nice breeze as he slowly opened his eyes and smiled.

Syaoran's group stood on a hillside where a nice wind's breeze went on through. The glasses could be seen blowing side to side, as Syaoran admired the sight. "This place, is pretty beautiful…"

"I'll say." Fai smiled, "What do you think Kuro-Kuro?"

"Its…okay." Kurogane looked to the side annoyed. Syaoran couldn't help but laugh faintly at how Kurogane responded; he then looked back to the hillside again.

He looked up at the sky, although darkened it wasn't a bad sight either. Suddenly though he remembered someone important to him as he sighed faintly. He was missing her; he had been apart from her for quite awhile now. The person he missed was a girl whom was very important in his heart, a beautiful young princess named "Sakura".

It was apparent on what Syaoran was thinking about as evidenced by the look on his face. Fai and Kurogane both noticed this but decided to keep their mouths quiet. Syaoran continued to be lost in his thoughts, until he snapped back to reality and looked over his shoulder at his comrades.

"I'm sorry; I lost myself in my memories for a bit there…" Syaoran laughed faintly, Kurogane just closed his eyes. "It's okay, let's just go." Kurogane snapped some as the group proceeded onward. In the shadows, a red mono-eye monitored and scanned the group; it wouldn't be long until it went on the move.

Back in town; William had taken Kyo and Alice to his home. Here the young man would answer any questions that the pair asked him, and it would be from this man William that they would become familiar with the world now around them.

"This world is a gloomy town of sorts; it used to be a central post for surrounding areas. However it's degraded into just a typical town with some…exceptions…if you will." William explained, Kyo and Alice listened intensely.

"Exceptions..?" Alice asked with a cute head tilt.

"You see this town while it may seem peaceful; it's used as a massive experimentation field by the two Demon Scientists who control this area."

"Demon Scientists?" Kyo blinked.

"Their names are Professor Rosencrantz and Professor Guildenstern. Their a duo of strange and mischievous men who finds various means to perform experiments; while this rarely affects us, ever since this stranger strolled on by things changed."

"Rosencrantz…and…Guildenstern." Kyo looked at his feet in thought, "They sound cruel."

"They are." William's eyes narrowed seriously.

"What can we do then to help?" Kyo stood; William seemed both confused and surprised at this statement. "What?" William blinked. "I'm asking what Alice and I can do to help this town!" Kyo raised his tone a bit; the man blinked a bit but closed his eyes soon and smiled.

"If you want to help…then the only thing you could do is help us confront Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. So we can avoid taking care of this matter with violence…"

"If that's what you think, then we will do our best!" Kyo smirked as Alice smiled at Kyo and then at William. "Yes, indeed~" She giggled.

Syaoran's group had descended from the hillside and was drawing close to the town by now; drawing closer to the town, Syaoran felt his curiosity begin to come close to its peak. The journey him and his comrades were on now was different then the means of their last one. With no set destination or means of travelling; Syaoran's group was quite well stuck in this world.

"If we wanted can't we just go on to the next world? This is becoming quite tedious!" Kurogane snapped. Syaoran sighed some.

"We need to get familiar with what's going on, there is something strange going on in the shadows here and I know it." Syaoran answered to Kurogane, the ninja just grumbled some as he rubbed the top of his head while walking.

"Whatever you say."

"The town is just up ahead, we should just focus more on moving then talking." Fai muttered as he intruded on the conversation between Syaoran and Kurogane. "The more ground we cover; the quicker we get there; and the quicker the answers shall come to us." He smiled.

"He's right! He's right!" Mokona giggled as it hopped into the air. Syaoran rubbed the back of his head and let out a faint laugh as he watched Mokona's eccentric behavior. He was glad his comrades could be so much more relaxed then he himself could.

_We have to keep moving, I want to help out this world before heading to the next. That's how I want to do things, and that's how we've always done them!_

With both sides having reached the town in some form or another; it seemed as if the "game" being planned by the Demon Scientists and their "accomplice" was coming more into play. Kyo and Alice were still in the company of the man known as William as he had told them what he could answer concerning the world they were in. Whilst Syaoran's group had just reached the edge of town; and while they were being stalked by a mysterious figure in the shadows, they were all but oblivious to the matter and proceeded into the streets without even sensing the figure.

"It appears all the players have arrived into the town…" Guildenstern seemed amused as he watched the two groups from the monitors set up in the lab he and Rosencrantz inhabited.

"All but the Ninja named Yoshimitsu anyways…" Rosencrantz chuckled some, "…but yes, its as we were told."

"That means the next step of this is too move the pieces close together." Guildenstern chuckled as his goggles went over his eyes and he grinned. "With a silver tongue we can bring those two heroes and their companions together and then tear them apart, thus eliminating both main threats to all of our plans."

"Yes; however they are perceptive my friend. Be careful not to instigate your own death." Rosencrantz smiled, "It would be a shame if you died…"

Guildenstern was silent; for awhile he said nothing, but then he emitted a faint twisted chuckle as his goggles went back onto his forehead. He looked at Rosencrantz before passing by him. "I am a Puppet Master of Deception; it won't be hard to drive a knife into the two parties."

Rosencrantz was silent he looked at the main monitors. Guildenstern noticed he didn't seem likely to reply and thus he left the lab chuckling evilly. Rosencrantz stared at the monitors and sighed a bit.

_I hope Guildenstern is aware of what he is doing; by instigating the wrong out of Syaoran and his comrades he is only bring forth his death. I hope things don't come to that however…_

**Note: **Yeah, I am sure you guys noticed but this chapter is kind of shorter compared to the recent ones. I had a bit of writer's block and was pretty tired when I wrote this chapter. I'm hoping though that by the next chapter or two my sense of writing returns and my story will regain its initial awesomeness. Until next time, guys.


	7. Chapter 06: House Call

**| Chapter 06: House Call |**

Following their time with William; Kyo and Alice had learned of the world they had ended up in and what was going on it. To put it simply; the world they were in was a noir-esque world that had once known peace but recently a pair of men known as the "Demon Scientists" started to take civilians and use them in experiments. This in turn ruined the peace of the town and thus planted a seed of evil within this world. With that evil, the two knew what they had to do.

"Are you really sure you want to do this..?" William asked Kyo and Alice as the two had gotten a good night's rest, as William had let them spend the night in his home. This way they would regain the strength they had been almost completely drained of before.

"The Demon Scientists are extremely brilliant men and I'm sure from their time with experimentation they've produced many beasts." William warned them, he frowned a bit. He was concerned a bit about the choice that Kyo and Alice were making.

Kyo simply looked over at William and smiled though, "Don't worry…" he began, Alice helping him up, "…Alice and I aren't weak, and I think we can take care of two big-headed nerds." He smiled warmly.

Alice nodded in agreement towards what Kyo said. In the back of her mind though she was expressing a similar concern to William; although her concern lied in Kyo's condition rather then what could happen to herself.

_I know we figured that if we solve the problem in this world, the Takara Nikki may let us go to the next world, but I'm worried that Kyo is pushing himself too hard for my sake…_

Kyo looked over to Alice who was staring at him. He blinked twice as he seemed confused on how she seemed to be lost in thought; when Alice realized Kyo was staring at her she perked up and blushed faintly. "I-I'm sorry..!" She bowed, "I was…distracted." She responded shyly.

Kyo smiled and put a hand on her shoulder, "It's okay, don't worry."

William watched the two; they seemed close but, he still couldn't help but feel a sense of uneasiness for getting them involved in this. _I know they just only wanted to know about this town; but I worry my tale may have gotten them into a situation that could end their lives._

"Let's go."

_Elsewhere…_

On the edge of the town; a large villa stood. This villa was known as the "Schwartzwald Estate" and was the large compound that housed the Demon Scientists Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. It stood with three stories and a dark color scheme, this estate had been around since before the scientists' time and was named after the forest that surrounded the perimeter of the town, the same forest both Kyo and Syaoran's groups had spent a good time in when they came to this world.

In the lower level of the estate, the darkly illuminated lab where the Scientists conducted most if not all of their experiments. Rosencrantz stood, looking upon the large monitors as he thought to himself. Guildenstern had already left the lab; he was going to prepare for the imminent visit they would soon receive from Kyo and Alice, as well as Syaoran's group.

_Things were nice at first; however I've begun to worry that our time of experimentation is changing my friend, Guildenstern._

Rosencrantz sighed as he pushed up his glasses, "It felt like it was only a small time ago that we came to this town…how time flies." He chuckled sadly. His eyes seemed heavy, but he heard a noise in the corner of the room and he perked. He turned to see a familiar face in the shadows.

"It's you again…"

The shadows hid the identity of the person in the shadows, but it was apparent that this figure was a male. The individual let out a faint chuckle as he stared at Rosencrantz. "What's wrong you seem upset, I provided to you and Guildenstern, I assumed you would be more…happy." The figure teased.

"Don't taunt me, clown!" Rosencrantz suddenly snapped, he gritted his teeth and looked to the side. "…I apologize, I'm only tense."

"Guildenstern was quite happy to hear of the incoming "passerby's", you see it's a perfect chance for him to put all that you and him have created to the test. Using your man-made beasts against travelers who defiled time and space." The man chuckled. "You on the other hand seemed quite stressed."

"I'm a chaser of the truth and a Scientist who destroys and creates as I please..! Do not try to make it sound like as if my friend Guildenstern and I are but maniacs who kill because its pleasing!" Rosencrantz snapped again.

"So what you're trying to say is, you think your actions in this world are justified?" The man pondered, Rosencrantz flinched a bit at this. The scientist grew silent while the man let out a loud laugh that seemed to echo.

"As I thought, your bark is but hollow." The figure grinned in the shadows, "Just do as I told you and your friend; Fight Syaoran when he comes and if he proves in able to defeat you, kill him and his friends."

"Why do you care so much about the death of this man named Syaoran..?" Rosencrantz questioned, the man was unresponsive at first but he let out a faint chuckle.

"Let's just say, the emotions he has, those feelings of compassion and bravery, will grow to become a huge pain later on." The man grinned; he faded away into the shadows. Soon leaving Rosencrantz to stand alone in the barely lit lab and the sweet sound of silence being all there was.

Rosencrantz clenched his fists firmly as he looked over at the set of monitors behind him, his eyes narrowed as he glanced at the monitor depicting Guildenstern whom was standing in the courtyard of the Schwartzwald Estate. _Guildenstern, what are you planning on doing when they get here..? _

_Elsewhere…_

To head to the Schwartzwald Estate where the Demon Scientists were; William had arranged for his personal carriage to take Kyo and Alice to the exterior of the Estate. As William himself rathered to stay out of harm's way all he could do was make sure the duo was properly transported.

Kyo and Alice sat across from each other; Alice was hugging the Takara Nikki close to her body while Kyo eyed it out of the corner of his vision. The young man having his face rested in the palm of his right hand as he was facing one of the windows of the carriage.

"So, you really think if we get rid of the threat in this world we may be able to escape?" Kyo suddenly asked Alice. She perked up a bit as she looked at him; she then glanced at the Takara Nikki in her arms.

"In the past; everytime I had gone to a world, I would be able to use the Takara Nikki to escape to another one once I had recorded the great memory of the world I was presently in. While, it's not necessarily a matter of getting rid of a threat in that world, but this could be the fastest way for us."

"So it's not the defeat of the scientists we're trying to achieve…we're just trying to activate the Takara Nikki to record this world's memory." Kyo folded his arms and closed his eyes. He let out a faint sigh, "Makes sense I guess."

"I'm sorry if this complicates things…" Alice frowned, she felt bad now. Kyo looked at her and smiled, "No, don't apologize. It's okay, honestly." Alice gave a smile when Kyo told her this.

Not far from where the carriage was; Syaoran's group was heading in the direction of the Schwartzwald Estate as well. When they had reached town they had learned of the story about the two Demon Scientists who were abducting innocents and putting them through harsh experiments. Syaoran didn't care if they were looking for Sakura Feathers or not, if someone needed help he would do the best of his ability. Thus his group was departing for the Estate to confront the two Scientists to stop this inhumane act

"Is there really any point of us going through this trouble?" Kurogane brought up suddenly, Syaoran seemed to give him a small glare. "Yes! We're helping out people in need. Besides, I want to see what these so-called "Demon Scientists" are like."

"Whatever you say, kid." Kurogane let out a small sigh as he closed his eyes. He followed after Syaoran, Fai, and Mokona with his katana resting against his shoulder.

"Hmm, what's that?" Fai stopped walking; in the distance he saw the carriage that contained Kyo and Alice quite ahead of them. It appeared to be heading in the same general direction as Syaoran's group.

"Looks like someone has the same destination as us." Kurogane expressed a smirk, Syaoran was silent but it was clear he noticed the carriage as well.

"Let's keep moving." Syaoran said as he led the group forward.

The carriage had soon come to a stop, as it had reached the destination of the courtyard of the Schwartzwald Estate. Kyo perked when he noticed the halt of the carriage and he moved to get out, Alice perked up as well. Once Kyo got out of the carriage he looked around for anyone but no one was visible. He then helped Alice out of the carriage and she did the same as Kyo when he got out of the carriage.

"For such a large estate it seems this place is nothing but a ghost inhabitated manor…" Kyo remarked. He took a few steps forward and that's where he heard a laugh that echoed. "What the..!"

The laugh continued to echo but it sooned came to an end; Alice let out a shriek when she noticed Guildenstern standing from the staircase leading to the main body of the Estate. Guildenstern chuckled, his goggles over his eyes as he spotted the book in Alice's arms.

_So that's the book that he told us about, the Takara Nikki. I can tell that its design is quite unique; however I fail to currently see its importance._

Guildenstern took steps forward to get closer to the two. A grin was on his face, as Kyo stepped back and moved to reach for his sword. Alice then moved close to Kyo as to be protected. "Are you one of the Demon Scientists?" Kyo glared. Guildenstern chuckled as his goggles raised and went onto his forehead.

"Yes I am, my name is Demon Scientist, Professor Guildenstern!" His eyes widened and flickered a bright red as he laughed. Alice's eyes widened a bit in fear as she stayed behind Kyo who only unsheathed his sword slowly.

"Good; I'm here to take care of you and your accomplice!" Kyo yelled.

"Heh, so you're saying you're here to kill my friend and I? How foolish of you. However this is the perfect opportunity…" Guildenstern mused; Kyo seemed confused but kept his stance as he glared at Guildenstern.

"Perfect opportunity for what..?" Kyo maintained both stance and glare to the demented scientist.

"To test out all the little toys I have created!" Guildenstern backed up as the ground between him and Kyo began to split open as a mechanic panel began to raise up to ground level. On it were a series of tall silver colored clockwork machines, made from pieces of gears and the like. They all possessed a sort of knight theme, as well as a lone mono-eye that was red in color.

Kyo grew a bit intimidated but maintained his stance. The robots all lined up and their bodies all whirred and clicked. Guildenstern only maintained a grin, "Presenting the Golem Series, the fact that your presence helped activate my Recon Unit without command is proof enough to me that you are the perfect person to test the strength of my Golems!"

"What are you babbling about you crazy old man!" Kyo yelled back as he swung his sword at the air.

"A simpleton like you would not ever understand, Golem, march forth!" Guildenstern chuckled as he backed up; he went to retreat to within the Estate. Kyo gritted his teeth, this didn't look so well for him, what would he do? Alice looked on with the sensation of horror creeping up on her as she hugged the Takara Nikki extra tightly.

_Kyo, please be careful…_


End file.
